Enewsletter

I would like to share
an example of what keeps me motivated.
Right
before I moved away from Jacksonville,
I had the opportunity to talk to
a woman who had gotten a pamphlet
from me. She told me how the day
she got it was a major event in
her life. She remembered the exact
date and location.
To
me, this was just another afternoon,
and I could have just as easily
decided that I didn't feel like
leafleting that day. However, if
I had done this, then her life would
have followed a completely different
path. She represents thousands of
others who are affected in the same
way, but from whom who we never
get feedback.-Eugene Khutoryansky,
Houston, TX, 10/9/05

Notes from Vegan
Outreach

The
Animals Need You

Vegan Outreach members have donated
$10,047.50 of the $19,000 needed
for the next booklet printing. Thanks
to everyone who has contributed
so far!

Your donation provides the animals
a voice, and helps more and more
people make informed, compassionate
choices.

We need
your help to help the animals!

You can donate
securely on-line (please
state that your donation is for
the printing -- we'll continue to
post running totals), or send a
check or money order to:

Vegan Outreach |
P.O. Box 38492 | Pittsburgh, PA
15238

Another
New Record

On October 10, Vegan
Outreach sent out the 622,500th
booklet for 2005, passing our record
total of 620,542 for all of 2004.
The Adopt
a College program has passed
90,000 flyers for the semester so
far -- closing in on 100,000! (Last
year at this time, the total was
38,517 for the Fall 2004 semester.)

Thanks so
much to everyone who made this possible!
Because of you, innumerable
lives have been changed, with millions
of animals saved from the horrors
of factory farms and industrial
slaughterhouses.

At right, Maria
Lobikin leaflets at the University
of Pennsylvania; photo by Jon Camp.

A number of people
have asked for a direct link to
last week's "How Vegan"
article. It is now here.
Thanks to everyone who offered feedback!

Product of the Week

Michelle Gmaz writes:
"The maker of the hair care
line Jonathan Product is proud enough
to put 100% vegan on the very front
of the product. So of course, I
had to try it. It is being sold
through QVC
and Sephora.
It is so popular that it is sold
out almost everywhere, but I managed
to get the shampoo, conditioner
and leave-in glossing creme. This
stuff is great, like high-end salon
products."

Notes from All
Over

excerpt: "There is
wizardry afoot in a large number
of Washington area restaurants,
where the skill for counterfeiting
meat has become rather sophisticated.
Even without a blindfold, it is
often impossible to tell. Get up
close and inspect the grain. Breathe
deep its waft. Feel it yield to
the fork, and to the tooth. Test
for 'bounce.' Mutton isn't dressing
up as lamb, soy is."

Notes from Our
Members

I always carry booklets
with me and give them to people
in places like school, work, and
the mall. Basically, whenever someone
asks why I'm a vegetarian I explain
to them, encourage them, and give
them a flyer. Although it is not
going fast, it is going very well.
There was a girl who started working
with me, and we had known each other
for a day, and I gave her one and
she said "Seriously, I am going
to do this." It's a really
good feeling.-AF, Rochester, NY,
10/7/05

I recently had the
best leafleting experience of my
life at a local community
festival, where the reception rate
was almost 100%. A few people told
me they had read it that day and
wanted to "do something"
about it. I even noticed lots of
people who didn't have pockets or
places to put the leaflets, but
nevertheless were still carrying
them even an hour after I had given
it to them. I offered one to a biker-type
couple and the woman immediately
said "No," but as they
were walking away the guy shouted
"Vegan?" and ran back
to grab a leaflet. To top all this
off the vendors at this festival
were selling AMAZING vegan hot dogs
and hamburgers for only $2 each.
One of the staff guys who had read
the leaflet wanted to learn more
about eating veg and I referred
him over to the vendor to get a
hot dog--which he actually ended
up doing! My favorite encounters
were when a young girl (probably
10 years old) said she was vegetarian
and drinks soy milk in a totally
matter-a-fact way, and an 80+ year
old man who said he had already
gotten a pamphlet before and looked
through it. I even gave one to the
mayor of Minneapolis, RT Rybak,
as well as another politician. I
spoke with the mayor for a moment
and he said that he was against
animal cruelty and not in favor
of factory farming.
Despite
the fact that I live in one of the
most progressive neighborhoods in
the Twin Cities, I was truly impressed
at the reactions people had to the
info, and saw a glimpse of hope.-Gil Schwartz, 10/5/05

We recently leafleted
three events. The
first was a festival for new college
students in our hometown of Philadelphia,
and the response was tremendous.
Many expressed that they had wanted
to find out more information about
going vegetarian. I saw students
sitting on curbs reading each page
of the books with their friends,
visibly disturbed with what they
saw; one person even nearly walked
into a telephone pole because he
was reading his new Even If
You Like Meat, rather than
watching where he was walking!
The
second place we leafleted was at
a large anti-war march in Washington,
D.C., and the response was very
positive.
The
third event we leafleted was at
a speaking event by the Dalai Lama
at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
The response was one of the best
I've ever gotten as a leafleter.
Almost everyone was curious and
extremely interested in learning
more about going veg. The booklets
also generated a lot of conversation
between current and hopefully future
vegetarians who weren't opposed
to the idea but simply hadn't tried
it yet. Several people thanked us
for being out there.-Nick Cooney, 9/28/05

Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the suffering of farmed animals by promoting informed, ethical eating.